2020 candidates vie for teachers' support

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— Democratic presidential candidates are working hard to woo teachers, a core party constituency energized by widespread strikes and unrest.

— Actress Felicity Huffman officially pleaded guilty on Monday to charges stemming from the college admissions bribery scheme recently revealed by the FBI. Two other celebrities swept up in the scandal will appear in court next month.

— There may be no such thing as a free lunch, but Democratic 2020 contender Julian Castro wants to change that for all students as part of his sweeping “People First Education” plan.

— The wooing of America’s teachers is fully underway across battleground states. Candidates are offering to bring water to walkouts and cold-calling teachers union leaders in states like Iowa. The unions, in turn, are seeking — and getting — forums, one-on-one meetings and school visits with the candidates. The result is teachers having access to argue for boosts in K-12 funding, spell out their opposition to school choice and corner candidates on other priorities.

— “Democrats have long claimed to be the party that stands up for public education," said Alex Caputo-Pearl, president of United Teachers Los Angeles, who helped his union wage a successful six-day strike earlier this year. "Now, we need to see them put their money where their mouth is, and deal with the historic underfunding of public education and stopping the privatization of public education.”

WARREN’S EDUCATION SECRETARY REQUIREMENT: Presidential candidate Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) drew applause from union members on Monday when she said she would only choose an Education secretary who has been a public school teacher, reiterating an announcement she made earlier on Twitter.

— “No more Betsy DeVos,” she told members of the American Federation of Teachers during a town hall meeting, part of the union’s primary endorsement process. “I want someone who is committed to public education. I want someone who has seen tattered textbooks or tried to manage when there are too many kids in a classroom.” Our Michael Stratford has more.

GUILTY PLEA IN COLLEGE CHEATING SCANDAL: Huffman, who's one of dozens of parents charged in the sweeping college admissions cheating and bribery scheme, told a federal judge on Monday that her daughter has had accommodations allowing for extra time on tests since she was 11. That's according to reports from inside the courtroom where the actress officially pleaded guilty to paying $15,000 to arrange college entrance exam cheating for her oldest daughter.

— But the extra time her daughter received to take the SAT was just a piece of the scheme. According to charging documents, Huffman wrote to the scandal's ringleader, William “Rick” Singer, after her daughter’s high school counselor said she could take the test in her high school, and not the testing facility where a proctor would help her cheat: “Ruh Ro! Looks like [my daughter’s high school] wants to provide own proctor.”

— They were able to schedule her daughter’s SAT at a West Hollywood testing facility that worked with Singer where the proctor helped her cheat “either by correcting the student’s answers after the test or by actively assisting the student during the exam,” according to charging documents. Huffman’s daughter scored a 1420 on the exam, 400 points better than on her PSAT. Prosecutors are seeking four months in prison and a $20,000 fee for Huffman.

— The other celebrities caught up in the scandal, actress Lori Loughlin and her husband, fashion designer Mossimo Giannulli, have pleaded not guilty — though Loughlin reportedly felt she had “no choice.” The couple is next set to appear in court on June 3.

DANIELS PRAISES 'ANTONYM OF "SNOWFLAKE"': Purdue University President and former Indiana GOP Gov. Mitch Daniels is getting pushback for a commencement speech last week in which he praised Purdue Boilermakers for their grit. “I’m tempted to call Roget’s Thesaurus and let them know the antonym of 'snowflake' is 'Boilermaker,'" he said, invoking a derogatory term for millennials and Generation Z.

— The Purdue English Department’s director of creative writing, Brian Leung, wrote in the Journal & Courier on Monday that it was “disappointing” to hear Daniels use the “snowflake” insult when describing college-age students “experiencing legitimate, core value anxieties brought on by cultural, political and global forces."

TRUMP MAKES REVERSAL ON SPECIAL OLYMPICS OFFICIAL: President Donald Trump on Monday updated his fiscal 2020 budget proposal to restore federal funding for the Special Olympics that his administration had initially proposed eliminating.

— Trump wrote on Twitter: "Today, I officially updated my budget to include $18 million for our GREAT @SpecialOlympics, whose athletes inspire us and make our Nation so PROUD!" Michael has more.

CASTRO SERVES UP FREE LUNCH PROPOSAL: The former Obama administration official wants to create a partnership between the Education and Agriculture departments to expand free breakfast and lunch programs for all students at public schools. He also wants to expand access to meals during the summer.

— A spokesperson for Castro said the presidential candidate would invest in food banks and food pantries to serve the nutritional needs of students, their families and communities as part of a $150 billion package for school facilities, technology infrastructure, and organizational support across the pre-K through 12th grade system. “Between these investments, and building on nutrition assistance efforts launched under the Obama (administration), we would help make sure no child is hungry at school,” Sawyer Hackett wrote in an email.

— The meal access proposal follows a highly publicized story this month of a Rhode Island school district announcing plans to offer students “sun butter and jelly” sandwiches until they repaid overdue lunch fees or established a payment plan. The news sparked tens of thousands in donations to cover the students’ debts, including nearly $50,000 from yogurt-maker Chobani, NPR reported.

— Hackett said the estimated cost of Castro’s entire education plan — designed to reshape public education from pre-K through college — would cost approximately $1.5 trillion, to be paid for by repealing and replacing Trump's 2017 tax law and by asking corporations and “the wealthy to pay their fair share.” Our Benjamin Wermund has more on the full plan.

The politics of climate change are frozen in Washington. But beyond the Beltway, action on climate is heating up faster than ever. How are mayors and executives tackling climate change? Tune into POLITICO's "Global Translations" podcast to hear from Mike Bloomberg, the former Mayor of New York City and Ed Skyler, the Executive Vice President for Global Public Affairs at Citi, in a special branded episode by Citi.Subscribe and listen now: Apple Podcasts - Spotify - Stitcher

— A new report by College Pulse, supported by the Knight Foundation, found college students support the First Amendment, but are divided on whether it’s more important to promote an inclusive society that welcomes diverse groups or to protect the “extremes” of free speech.

— New research by Nobel laureate economist James Heckman, a University of Chicago professor, and university colleague Ganesh Karapakula looks at the life outcomes of Perry Preschool participants at midlife, as well as the outcomes of their own children.